# What is a product requirements document (PRD)?

A product requirements document (PRD) says what a product or feature must do and why: the problem, users, goals, requirements and scope.

Updated on 22 October 2026.

## How it works

Product managers write a PRD before design and engineering commit to a solution, then keep it as the reference while the work goes on. It says what success looks like, not how to build it.

Good PRDs stay short and link out: to the research behind the problem, to the design, to the technical design document and to the decisions taken along the way.

## An example

A PRD for team billing states the problem (finance cannot see who uses which seat), the users, three goals with measures, eight requirements, and what is out of scope this quarter, then links to the design and the technical plan.

## Common mistakes

- Prescribing the solution instead of the problem and the outcome.
- No out-of-scope section, so the scope keeps growing.
- Approving it once and never recording later changes.

## In Nodary

Nodary has a PRD template built in, in 12 languages. A PRD links to its technical design and its decision records, carries a status from draft to approved, and can be sent for review to an owner or admin of the workspace or project, who approves it or asks for changes, signed with who and when.

**What Nodary does not do:** there is no connection to Jira or GitHub issues: a PRD’s tasks live in Nodary or are copied by hand.

- [Sharing and permissions](https://nodary.ai/docs/sharing-and-permissions)
- [Product requirements document (PRD) template](https://nodary.ai/templates/prd)

Try it on your own documents. The Free plan needs no card. [Create a free workspace](https://nodary.ai/sign-up)

## Sources

- [Product requirements document, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_requirements_document)
- [Requirements, Atlassian Agile Coach](https://www.atlassian.com/agile/product-management/requirements)

## Related terms

- [Architecture decision record (ADR)](https://nodary.ai/glossary/architecture-decision-record): An architecture decision record (ADR) is a short document recording one significant technical decision: its context, the choice made and its consequences.
- [Decision log](https://nodary.ai/glossary/decision-log): A decision log is a running record of a team’s decisions, each with its date, who decided, why, and the options set aside.
- [Burn-up chart](https://nodary.ai/glossary/burn-up-chart): A burn-up chart plots finished work against total scope over time, showing progress, pace and any change in scope on one chart.
- [Game design document (GDD)](https://nodary.ai/glossary/game-design-document): A game design document (GDD) describes a game’s vision, rules, systems and content for the team that builds it.

https://nodary.ai/glossary/product-requirements-document